Demand grows for cyber-professionals but no one wants to train newbies

(ISC)2 study finds shortfall of cyber-security workers with a predicted skills gap of 350,000 in Europe by 2022.

Would you train up someone or would you prefer to have someone experienced come in?

(ISC)2 has conducted another mega-survey – 19,000 cyber-security professionals in total – and found that European organisations are planning a blazing fast cyber-security recruitment drive.

Thirty-eight percent of hiring managers want to grow their workforce by at least 15 percent in the next year.

The survey points out what we already know in cyber-security: two-thirds of organisations state that they currently have too few cyber-security workers “as the region faces a projected skills gap of 350,000 workers by 2022”.

(ISC)2 says to combat this problem, employers should do more to embrace those new to the industry, as according to the survey results “92 percent of hiring managers admit they prioritise previous cyber-security experience when choosing candidates, and that most recruitment comes from their own professional networks.”

The report adds: “Hiring managers identified that they are relying on their social and professional networks (48 percent), followed closely by their organisation's HR department (47 percent) as their primary source of recruitment.”

(ISC)2 says “strong recruitment targets, a shortage of talent, and disincentives to invest in training are contributing to the skills shortage, with 70 percent of employers around the globe looking to increase the size of their cyber-security staff this year”.

The report goes on to describe “a revolving door of scarce, highly paid workers amidst a non-existent unemployment rate of just one percent in Europe. Organisations are struggling to retain their staff, with 21 percent of the global workforce stating they have left their jobs in the past year, and facing high salary costs, with 33 percent of the workforce in Europe in particular making over $100,000 USD / EUR 95,000 / GBP 78,000 per year.

“The combination of virtually non-existent unemployment, a shortage of workers, the expectation of high salaries, and high staff turnover that only increases among younger generations creates both a disincentive to invest in training and development and a conundrum for prospective employers: how to hire and retain talent in such an environment?” states the report.

Adrian Davis, managing director EMEA at (ISC)2, said, “There are real structural concerns hampering the development of the job market today that must be addressed. It is particularly concerning that employers appear reluctant to invest in their workforce and are unwilling to hire less-experienced candidates. If we cannot be prepared to develop new talent, we will lose our ability to protect the economy and society.”

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